ABSTRACT
Public space is a representation of powers, regime, and people’s will, all of which are conditioned to social, cultural, or political changes. As such, it is elastic and temporal. This is why symbolic attributes of public spaces and their associated meanings are effective as long as people accept and nurture these meanings. As history tells us, a society may be attached to a particular public space (for a short while or for a longer period of time), but the meanings change. Either way, public space’s representation and associated practices must be agreed upon or accepted by the public to avoid conflicts; if not accepted by the public it will increase political distance and encourage ongoing dissent and conflicts. Therefore, every public space tells a story that could be modified and challenged. This is the point of departure of this essay, which suggests that during protests, activists correspond with or challenge the public space’s narration as a means to develop a new idea or a new paradigm. Discussing this idea, this chapter addresses the relationships between narration and public space and the strategies of responding to this narration during protests.
